II 
SPRING 
39 
before, depend on the kind of garden they are 
to go in, and they must fit in and take their 
place among the plants which are to make it 
gay during the rest of the year. In the small 
formal beds, if there are many perennial plants 
(those which come up year after year), there 
will only be a little room for a few bulbs and 
spring flowering plants in between them in 
little clumps, or else planted in rows round the 
edges of the beds. If the garden is wholly 
for spring flowers, then much more can be done ; 
some beds can be filled with bulbs entirely, 
others devoted to such plants as forget-me-not 
or wallflower, which flower in the spring. In 
the wild garden bulbs can be planted in groups 
in the grass, and other spring flowers arranged 
here and there. 
One of the earliest things to flower is the 
pretty winter aconite (.Erant his hyemalis ). It 
has bright yellow flowers, surrounded by a sort of 
frill of green. It loves a wild spot under trees, 
and will often spread itself so as to form a 
green and golden carpet from January to 
March. At the same time appear the snow¬ 
drops. Nothing is more beautiful than the 
dainty white and green bells of the common 
snowdrop, familiar to all, but in a good garden 
it would be interesting to have some of the 
rare kinds as well. Even children might be 
